Year 2, Week 21, Day 5 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 21, Day 5

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Ezekiel 40.

Today’s reading continues the final major section of the Book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel 33-48 can be divided into two segments: Ezekiel 33-39 is composed of prophecies about the judgment upon but also the future restoration of Judah, while Ezekiel 40-48 is composed of Ezekiel’s vision about the new temple and new land. Ezekiel 40 focuses on the future of Israel and the return of the glory of the Lord in the new temple, by particularly providing detailed dimensions of the new temple: "In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway” (Ezekiel 40:2-3). This segment of Ezekiel starts in a similar way to the start of the entire Book, by establishing the exact date this vision was given: “In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me to the city” (Ezekiel 40:1; compare to Ezekiel 1:1-2). Ezekiel’s visions and therefore his prophecies began around 593 BC, while he was living in exile. Ezekiel was probably taken into Babylonian captivity about four year earlier. Jerusalem would finally call in about 586 BC. Now, twenty-five years after he was exiled and fourteen year after Jerusalem fell, Ezekiel was transported once again, through his vision, to the location of a new Temple: "Declare all that you see” (Ezekiel 40:4b). 

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the impressive nature of what dimensions and measurements that are provided: “And behold, there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed” (Ezekiel 40:5). The first measurements that are provided are of the thickness and height of the walls around the outer court of the Temple area. While Solomon’s temple had no  description of a similar barrier (probably because it was integrated as it was into the larger palace structure); the wall here in Ezekiel’s vision is substantial:  The wall is roughly eleven feet thick and eleven feet tall. The dimension of these walls suggest that they would be quite adequate to accomplish what a wall is designed to do.

The restricted access to the Temple would be accomplished not merely by the details of the walls, but also the measurements of the gates. Three gates are referenced, with the east gate not only described first, but in greater detail: “Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep. And the side rooms, one reed long and one reed broad; and the space between the side rooms, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end, one reed. Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one reed. Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end” (Ezekiel 40:6-9). Earlier in this Book, Ezekiel recorded that it was the east gate through which the glory of the LORD departed from the Temple (see Ezekiel 10:18-19); and in a few more chapters, it would be the east gate that the glory of the LORD would return (see Ezekiel 43:4). The gates, or actually, the gate structures of Ezekiel’s temple are roughly forty-five feet wide and ninety feet long, with six rooms to house guards, three on each side. The actual gate openings are about eleven foot by eleven foot. Like Solomon’s Temple, the Temple that Ezekiel sees has a Edenic-like design with the description of trees: “And the gateway had windows all around, narrowing inwards toward the side rooms and toward their jambs, and likewise the vestibule had windows all around inside, and on the jambs were palm trees” (Ezekiel 40:16; see also 1 Kings 6:29-35).

Moving from the outer court to the inner court, the Ezekiel records matters that focus on the nature of the activity that would occur inside the Temple: “There was a chamber with its door in the vestibule of the gate, where the burnt offering was to be washed. And in the vestibule of the gate were two tables on either side, on which the burnt offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering were to be slaughtered. And off to the side, on the outside as one goes up to the entrance of the north gate, were two tables; and off to the other side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables. Four tables were on either side of the gate, eight tables, on which to slaughter. And there were four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high, on which the instruments were to be laid with which the burnt offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered” (Ezekiel 40:38-42). These descriptions assume many sacrifices: the burnt, sin, and guilt offerings for the purpose of accomplishing atonement and purification on behalf of the people, heightening the focus on the purificatory role of the sacrifices.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe